Thanks for support

Dear Editor,

I would like to thank the citizens in McCook and Southwest Nebraska for their generosity in supporting the Christmas outreach 2005 program for our offenders at the Work Ethic Camp.

This will enable our offenders with children to send gifts from the Toy Box home to their kids, helping to maintain family ties.

We hope that this will be a positive effort for our offenders, and we hope to continue the program in the future.

Since I have heard a few negative comments concerning actions taken at a Red Willow County Commissioners meeting, in which the commissioners denied a request for assisting in the funding of this project, I would like to point out that I understand completely why the request was denied.

If a request is not included in their budget, which was completed earlier this year, then money cannot be added without going through a complicated legal process. I have always had a positive working relationship with the county commissioners, and expect to continue to do so. It was certainly never my intent to open the board up for any criticism.

Again, thank you to all who have supported Christmas Outreach 2005 and who have supported our facility over the years. I still truly believe that this support and the examples set by the citizens of Southwest Nebraska is one of the key reasons why we have been successful.

Sincerely,

Raleigh Haas,

Facility Administrator

Work Ethic Camp